There must be big business with all these cheap USB video capture cards because they all end up in same packaging. How do you find out which is a fake product vs a real product?
So far I’ve come across ezcap, easyCAP, Easier CAP (this review), and even Easier Capture! Surely these companies must look at each other and say Hey, That’s our idea!
And considering each of these devices cost less than twenty dollars, is it worth worrying which is a fake? Maybe.
That brings me to the Easier CAP UVC.
The UVC stands for USB Video Class and is compatible with practically every OS out there.
There’s also an article written explaining how UVC has changed the video capture industry.
That being said, I did have issues with this device, but I still managed to get it to work and record. I’ll get to that later though.
I bought mine from Deal Extreme simply to see what kind of results this device could produce.
- Video Capture Device-Connect the analog signal video recorder with your PC/Laptop and Achieve the conversion to digital...
- Video Capture Card-Capture High-quality Video & Audio through popular USB 2.0 interface and not need external power
Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Alternative from Amazon is the UCEC USB 2.0 Video Audio Capture Card which runs on the same chipset.
I have an updated post that compares it to 6 other USB capture sticks.
What’s In The Box?
The Easier CAP comes in a plastic hang sell package that protects the contents and is easily opened.
As with other devices of similar nature, they only come with the essentials.
You will receive the software CD, an extension USB cable and the capture card.
Three composite cables and a S-Video cable are all you will need to attach to you VCR.
Yellow for video, Red and White for the stereo sound.
Along the other end is a USB 2.0 connection for your computer which also powers the Easier CAP UVC.
The build quality is a strong plastic and doesn’t feel like it will snap too easily.
You will need to have composite cables to connect and capture you videos.
Installing The VHS to DVD 3.0 Software… or Not?
Simply plugging in the device into any USB port will begin the driver install.
The picture above is my Windows 8.1 PC which I test most of these products on.
The driver install took thirty seconds.
Later I installed the Easier CAP on Windows 7 and again, the install was painless.
What I did have trouble with was the software install.
The packaging on the device says the software enclosed is Ulead Video Studio 8.0.
It’s not.
In fact if you were to google Ulead Videostudio 8.0, you will be taken to a page from Corel wanting you to try their better video editing software.
I didn’t test if their software would work with the Easier CAP UVC.
So what software do we get yet again?
Honestech’s VHS to DVD.
Only this time when I proceeded to install the disc, I was greeted with the above error message.
I got this message on all three computers Windows 7, 8.1 and 10.
I assumed there might have been a problem with the disc except that I was able to open the disc and copy the contents onto a USB.
There were no errors while doing that, so I’m not sure what could’ve caused that initial problem.
Installing The VHS to DVD 3.0 Software… 2nd Time
Once I had the software copied to the USB I was able to install without any hiccups.
The software will ask you the rudimentary questions to click on next.
The product key can be found as a notepad file called key. What I did find amusing was the product key was exactly the same as the previous time I installed the VHS to DVD 3.0 se.
I guess they never thought someone would start buying these products over and over to test them.
Install takes approximately five minutes and the software is okay.
I have a complete walk through of the software on this post called EasyCAP DC60 USB Capture Card Review.
That post explains everything the software offers.
Software Recording Issues
So upon testing a video to record on Windows 10 using the VHS to DVD software, I was confronted with just a black screen and the sound.
Video device settings was changed.
Made sure the video device was set to the correct source.
I still got the same lagging black screen.
Decided to check on a different software, OBS Studio.
As you can see it was the same lagging out of sync picture. This happened on both the Windows 7 and Windows 10.
Also tested streaming using VLC player, getting the same results.
Checking the device manager, the driver appears to be correct.
I can only assume it’s the laptops that I’m using (one being Windows 10, the other Windows 7).
Still didn’t make sense.
Two other devices, both running Honestech software didn’t give the same issues.
The two test laptops are old but not that old and the minimum requirement for the Easier CAP UVC is suppose to be a Pentium 3!
That being said, this is the same packaging that states this device comes with Ulead VideoStudio.
Checking the capture card on the Windows 8.1 computer and what do you know?
It works!
I found myself watching Doris Day teaching kids how to use a hand cannon.
There’s something I never thought I’d write.
No lag and sound is in sync.
Under OBS Studio properties, the device is still the AV TO USB driver so nothing has changed there.
Under the output settings, I increased the Video Bitrate to over 12000kb and let the movie run its entire length.
An hour and a half movie became 4.75Gb in file size.
I did check at random points throughout the results for out of sync sound with voices and everything appeared fine.
These results were based on OBS studio, not the Honestech software.
Conclusion
Is this worth a buy? Short answer – Yes.
You get what you pay for and some devices are going to be crap there’s no denying it.
Make sure you have a back up software to use in case the disc supplied is corrupt or wont work on your computer.
It makes it hard to blame computer drivers when your adamant your computer is up to date.
I will do an update post testing these cheaper capture cards with free recording software to see a comparison between them all.
